7 Celebrities Who Refused to Go to the Oscars

Most people in the movie industry are chomping at the bit to win an Academy Award. In fact, many strive their entire career to obtain the honor. But while many work toward the impressive achievement, a select few have actually rejected the Academy Awards, refusing to accept an award or attend the event. Who has snubbed the awards? Here’s a look at seven Hollywood stars who have refused the honor.

1. Dudley Nichols

Nichols was the very first person to refuse an Oscar. He had won best screenplay for The Informer (1935), a movie that he adapted from a book about the Irish War of Independence. However, despite receiving the honor, he ended up boycotting the Academy Awards ceremony because of an ongoing dispute between the Academy and the Writer’s Guild, per About.com. The Los Angeles Times writes that Nichols went so far as to return his award after the Academy sent it to him. Included with the returned statuette was a note from Nichols saying if he kept the award, “it would be to turn my back on nearly a thousand members who ventured everything in the long-drawn-out-fight for a genuine writers’ organization.”

source: United Artists

2. Katharine Hepburn

This well-known leading lady was nominated for 12 Oscars and won four awards over the span of her career. However, Hepburn was not a fan of the ceremony, and never attended an event. She wasn’t totally opposed to the awards though; she proudly displayed her statues at her Connecticut home. Finally, in 1974, she attended an awards ceremony to present producer Lawrence Weingarten with a Thalberg Award, per Mental Floss. During the ceremony, Hepburn said, “I’m very happy that I didn’t hear anyone call out ‘it’s about time.’ I am living proof that a person can wait forty-one years to be unselfish.”